SWITZERLAND/FILE: Deaths from measles have fallen by 60 percent worldwide since 1999 in what experts describe as an historic victory for global health.

Record ID: 453160

  • Title: SWITZERLAND/FILE: Deaths from measles have fallen by 60 percent worldwide since 1999 in what experts describe as an historic victory for global health.
  • Date: 22nd January 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) BARINGO, KENYA (FILE - JUNE 19, 2002) (REUTERS) CROWDS AT MEDICAL STATION MAN WEARING A T-SHIRT READING "JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST MEASLES" CHILD DURING INJECTION
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA87N7G0QJD9D094JLIOG27XB72
  • Story Text: Measles deaths has fallen by 60 percent in six years thanks to accelerated control measures including an increase in routine measles immunisations and a campaign to reach marginalised children around the world.

    Deaths from measles have fallen by 60 percent worldwide since 1999 in what experts described on on Friday (January 19) as an historic victory for global health.
    Accelerated control measures including an increase in routine measles immunisations and a campaign to reach marginalised children in the 45 worst hit countries has pushed deaths down from an estimated 873,000 in 1999 to around 345,000 in 2005.
    The biggest fall has been in Africa where the number of children dying from the illness fell 75 percent to 126,000.
    Global health organisations including the WHO, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control announced in 2000 their intention to halve measles deaths.
    The new figures announced by the WHO and published in The Lancet medical journal show they have surpassed their target and prompted suggestions for the eradication of the infectious illness.
    "The village level you'll actually speak to people who will say in the past we had graves, measles graves and they will show you where the gravesites were and these don't exist anymore," explained Dr Peter Streel, of the WHO and co-author of the study.
    "So, they have really seen visibly the reduction in deaths. At the hospital or clinic level you will see measles wards actually emptying out so that walk past the ward and they will say that used to be the measles ward, well there are no more measles cases," he said.
    In the western hemisphere there has been no local spread of the measles virus since 2002 because of very aggressive vaccination efforts.
    In countries with ongoing war, conflict or poor coverage it would be difficult to achieve those levels. The next goal set by the partners of the Measles Initiative is to further reduce measles mortality by 90 percent by 2010.
    "Our next goal is to reduce worldwide measles deaths by 90% by the year 2010 and this is with reference to the year 2000. I think this is going to be quite a challenge. But we have an approach and that is to really take the same strategies that we used in Africa and apply them in some of the larger countries in South-East Asia..," said Strebel
    "Also in Africa we are going to have to sustain the gains that have been made and this will involve strengthening routine vaccination services, trying to ensure that all children get their first dose of measles (vaccine) by one year of age and then also doing periodically what we call follow up vaccination campaigns, targeting all children under five," he said.
    Strebel said in Africa the number of people being immunised against measles, which is one of the most contagious diseases known and a leading cause of death among children, rose from 71 to 81 percent in the six-year period.
    Ninety percent of the estimated 340,000 deaths from measles in 2005 were in children under five years old. The illness can cause serious complications such encephalitis, an infection of the brain, severe diarrhoea and pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death associated with the illness.
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